July 22, 2016—Cathy Buchanan, Co-owner of Independent Carpet One in Westland, Michigan, and Kemp Harr discuss her retail flooring business performance this year and the highlights of the Carpet One summer convention held last week in Michigan. Listen to the interview for more details.
July 20, 2016—Vinnie Virga, CEO of Floors and More, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy and growth plans for the new Floors and More buying group which held its inaugural meeting this week in Minneapolis. Listen to the interview to hear more about what sets them apart from other groups. Floors and More is the umbrella for Big Bob's Flooring Outlets and Floor to Ceiling full service retail design centers.
July 13, 2016—Eric Demaree, President of Carpet One Floor and Home, and Kemp Harr discuss highlights from this week's Carpet One summer convention held in Dallas. Listen to the interview to hear more about the meeting and also hear Eric talk about business conditions, share shift and buying local.
July 12, 2016—Rochelle Routman, the newly appointed chief sustainability officer at Metroflor/Halstead, and Kemp Harr discuss Rochelle's new focus as she shifts her focus to the LVT category in one of the oldest resilient companies in the flooring business. Listen to the interview to hear more about Rochelle's responsibilities at Metroflor.
July 11, 2016—Keith Spano, President of Flooring America, Flooring Canada and Floor Trader, and Kemp Harr discuss the focus at the group's summer convention in Dallas this week. Listen to the interview to hear more about the group's continued focus on digital marketing and merchandising as well as a new focus on the Floor Trader outlet model.
July 8, 2016—Aern Hetem, President of Tricycle, and Kemp Harr, discuss how the company has evolved over the last 15 years to stay relevant as digital imaging technology has become more mainstream. Listen to the interview to hear more about the services Tricycle provides to the flooring specifiers and manufacturers.
July 7, 2016—Paul Cleary, the newly appointed CEO of Lexmark Carpet Mills, and Kemp Harr, discuss Paul's focus as the new leader of Lexmark. Listen to the interview to hear more about Lexmark's focus in the market and what sets them apart from their competition. Most of Lexmark's business is focused in the commercial hospitality sector but they are growing their residential presence as well.
June 30, 2016—Kermit Baker, a Harvard Economist, and Kemp Harr discuss the health of the May Architectural Billing Index as well as the strength of the housing market overall. Listen to the interview to hear Kermit's positive outlook for the U.S. economy based on the strength of construction activity in both the commercial sector and the housing sector.
June 29, 2016—Jackie Dettmar, VP of product development and design for the Mohawk Group, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm's new showroom, product highlights, and their NeoCon show experience. Listen to the interview to get Jackie's take on this year's NeoCon.
June 28, 2016—Jeff Collum, President of Shannon Specialty Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm's new partnership with Spartan Surfaces. Listen to the interview to hear more about Jeff's background, about Shannon and about the strategy for this new alliance.